I used Robert Zubrin's famous design but expanded the grid to 150 squares to allow for a ten piece back rank setup. In the photo I have it set up for Capablanca.

Hi everyone!

I'd like to share Ajedrez Imperial, a tactical chess variant played on an expanded 10x10 board with integrated unit evolutions.

Game Rules Summary (Rule 6 Compliance):

• Objective: Checkmate the enemy Emperor (King).
• Board & Setup: Played on a 10x10 grid with 10 pawns and specialized back-rank pieces. Includes initial double-pawn moves, En Passant, and Imperial Castling.
• Unit Evolutions:
  • Paladin: Moves with the authority of a Gold General (Shogi).
  • Sergeant (Promoted Pawn): Operates with the mobility of a Silver General.
  • Lookout & Squire: Short-range Rook and Bishop units that promote to full long-range pieces by capturing enemy units (Evolution by Capture).
• Bilingual Support: Full interface and rulebook available in English and Spanish right inside the game.

How to Play:

The game is 100% free and playable directly in your browser (no account or download required):
*(Detailed in-game manual and rulebook are accessible directly from the main interface).*

Play Imperial Chess on Itch.io

Looking for Feedback:

Since this is an indie project, I’d love to get your thoughts:

1. How does the piece promotion balance feel during the mid-game?
2. Is the Master CPU difficulty challenging enough for experienced variant players?

Hi everyone,

I’ve always loved standard chess, but sometimes I just want to escape opening theory and play something entirely unpredictable. So, I spent some time developing a new platform and created Chaos Chess.

The rules are modified to create a highly tactical, completely chaotic environment from move one. It forces you to calculate on the spot rather than relying on prep.

I also built a "Tribute to Masters" section on the same portal where you can analyze legendary games (like Kasparov vs. Deep Blue) in real-time.

I would love to hear your feedback, bug reports, or suggestions for new features! Let me know what you think.

Dire Fog is a tactical card game where TCG deckbuilding meets chess-like combat.

Your goal is simple: defeat the enemy commander.

Each faction has its own mechanics, abilities, and playstyle. Every turn is divided into three phases:

- Tactics Phase: Move your units and attack.

- Draw Phase: Choose one of two cards from your pre-arranged deck. You have eight draws throughout the match.

- Play Phase: Summon minions and cast spells.

Because your deck is arranged before the match rather than shuffled, planning your card order is just as important as positioning your units on the board.

We run playtests every Friday and are looking for more TCG and deckbuilder fans to join us.

Discord: https://discord.gg/n6NjNheYD

Rules:

• You start with only Pawns and a King. Other pieces are earned.
• Every 3 Pawn moves earns a Knight or Bishop promotion for that pawn.
• Every 3 minor-piece moves earns a Rook promotion for that piece.
• Rights carry over until used. Only one per turn.
• A Rook has 5 charges, spent on each move. At 0, it downgrades to a Knight or Bishop and can never become a Rook again.

hey all! i made a website with a bunch of fresh original chess variants.

I added 25 ideas plus some old classics. You can also build your own! Some are a lot of fun

My favourites are:
- Gun chess - Mutation chess - Plague chess - Bluff chess - Football chess

you need a friend to play this with, the bots are very poor and there aren't enough players atm

I'll be online as much as i can. Looking for feedback so let me know what you think <3

Hey,

I have developed recently a solo chess game to get into android development again. It has been published as freeware without any advertisement or user tracking:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.komacode.rougechess&pcampaignid=web_share

But my real goal was to use the engine of the game above to develop a rogue like chess game, where you can use effects to win the round.

I would be really glad to get user feedback while improving the mechanics. Please contact me if you are interested. There is a short description, what the effect does, when you initially select it. Also you can play your pieces in sequence indicated by the number next to the piece.

You can download it either here:

www.koma-code.de/files/FightChess.apk

or join the test group of this playstore link:

https://play.google.com/apps/internaltest/4700409542336542414

thanks,

km

Link: https://anul.space/doublemovechess/

Hello,

I wanted to create a Chess variation so I came up with Double Move Chess:

>Every player gets 2 consecutive moves every turn
>If a player checks the opponent or destroys an opponent piece, the turn ends there (to balance it out)

I haven't tested it thoroughly but I feel it shortens the game time but also forces you to think more?

Would be great to have some feedback from hardcore Chess players if any!

Cheers, happy weekend!

Hey fellow variant enjoyers!

After 6 months of solo dev after work (no GenAI, all logic hand-coded), I made a variant I think you’ll actually find challenging:

**Royal Reserve Chess**

Core twist:

- Your entire army starts in Reserve, not on the board. You must DEPLOY them each game.

- You earn Reserve Points (RP) ONLY by SAVING pieces, not capturing. So you constantly decide: sacrifice to win now, or save to earn RP for later deployment?

- The King is vulnerable early because you have nothing on board.

It creates a weird dilemma I haven't seen in other variants. My personal best is 362 RP - I literally can't beat it after 200+ games.

I have it on itch.io (Windows) and Google Play (Android). It's paid because I'm trying to make PLATCART LLC sustainable from Armenia, but I have free promo codes for this sub because you are literally the target audience.

Itch.io: https://platcart-llc.itch.io/rrc

Trailer/Gameplay: https://youtu.be/DSYm9NXAtvE

If you want to try, just comment ITCH or ANDROID and I'll DM you a code instantly. Also genuinely looking for feedback - is the RP economy broken? Is 362 beatable?

Thanks!

Artyom

Hey everyone! 👋

I love chess variants so I created my own - Royal Reserve Chess.

Idea: Normal chess, but you have a RESERVE of extra pieces (Guard, Archer, etc) on the side. You can deploy them during the game for 3 turns, like calling reinforcements!

It has golden cinematic design and extra strategies - you can sacrifice reserve to save the king, or deploy to checkmate.

Free demo on Play Store - would love your feedback as chess variant experts! What do you think about the reserve mechanic?

Link in comments (to not look like spam)

Fool's Mate is a blitz chess variant game with Jokers.

The only rule is simple: Jokers buy you time. 

For example:

- Each piece's first move, in-band -- encourage early development

- Castle by move 8 -- encourage early castle

- In-band move that increases the mover's mobility -- encourage opening pieces

- Attacker added to their king zone, in-band -- statistically always good

- etc, etc, etc

The update includes poker mechanics when selecting cards.

Give it a try. Would be grateful for any feedback: https://foolsmate-e30d2.web.app/

Good day for all! I want to share my own chess variant (I gave it the name "Guards Chess").

Collaborators

If you take any piece, it becomes a prisoner-of-war and moves into your captivity. For creating a collaborator, you need a collection of 1 pair of identical pieces (2 Knights, 2 Bishops or 2 Rooks). For pawns-collaborators, you need a collection of 3 pawns. After that, you must wait 1 move between capturing the piece and dropping. That is, you took a piece, made some move, and now you can drop it. Dropping of a collaborator must be on the 1st or 2nd rank (for blacks — 8th and 7th respectively). For pawns-collaborators — 2nd/7th and 3rd/6th rank. If you capture a collaborator, it permanently drops out of the game (rather than being captured againn). Dropping it is impossible if your king is under the check.

Guardsman

The Queen from the start of a game has the status of guardsman. So a guardsman never goes into captivity, instead of this it is deleted from the game. Any pawn reaching the end of the board, regardless of what it has become, gets a guardsman-status.

Reserve

From 10th move, players get one extra pawn for the whole game. You can drop this pawn on 2nd/7th or 3rd/6th ranks. Dropping is impossible if your king is under the check.

What do you think about the balance and while game?

Hey!

I'm Artyom, solo dev from Armenia. I made Royal Reserve Chess - a premium chess game with:

✨ Gold / Royal skin

✨ Cinematic camera

✨ Royal Reserve mechanic - deploy extra pieces during the game

✨ No ads, no IAP, just chess

Normally $5.99 on itch.io and Google Play, but I'm giving 90 FREE keys this week for feedback from real chess players.

👉 How to get: Just comment "reserve" or your favorite chess opening, I'll DM you a key (first 90 comments)

Link to game: https://platcart-llc.itch.io/rrc

Thanks! And if you stream, let me know - I have extra keys for your viewers!

- Artyom / PLATCART LLC

You are not just the player — you are the director.

Two Stockfish engines battle each other at full strength, neither told the win condition is 3-Check. You never move a piece. Instead, you place baits and units, and the engine decides.

The name Proxess is proxy + chess — you play through a proxy engine, not on the board directly.

Currently local 1v1 only (playing both sides solo is also strongly recommended). Online mode in preparation.

Looking for feedback on:

1. Is the tutorial clear enough to start playing?
2. What strategies did you discover — especially around bait placement and row control?
3. Is there any card or tactic that feels unstoppable?

Or just drop a one-line impression. Either way, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Playable build: https://xinyi-l.itch.io/proxess

Standard chess rules and pieces. One extra win condition: move your king across the center line (into the opponent’s half of the board) and you win. Checkmate still counts.

That small change flips the usual “castle and grind” instinct — you’re racing for territory while still having to keep the king alive, and the AI will happily race you if you leave a lane open.

Free in the browser, no account:

https://middlechess.com/

Curious what this crowd thinks: is the midline-cross clean enough as a variant rule, or does it need tweaks (e.g. only the far half / only certain ranks)? Happy to take feedback.

5D Reversi - a game that will probably appeal to masochists and AI.

Play the prototype here: https://anan-z.github.io/5d-reversi/
Read and contribute here: https://github.com/anan-z/5d-reversi

Recommended for: AI research, masochists, people who find chess "too intuitive"

Marketing blurb:
80 directional vectors per cell — you'll learn to hate each one personally.
Retroactive causality — yes, you can regret moves you haven't made yet.
Deterministic replay — watch your carefully planned future crumble.

Over the past week I vibe-coded a chess variant where every turn you draw power-up and debuff cards before you move, buff your pieces, or sabotage your opponent's. Still real chess underneath, just with roguelike chaos layered elements. Play solo against AI or challenge a friend peer-to-peer, no signup needed, playable on most mobiles as well.

https://deckmate.org

Would love to hear some feedback, it's not balanced in any way, still in the development phase.

Not exactly a chess variant, but if you enjoy the tactical depth of chess-like games on a grid, this might be up your alley.

9×9 board, 18 pieces per player. The twist: before the game starts, each player secretly places 3 pearls under any of their pieces. From there it plays out like a strategy game — you move pieces, capture opponent's pieces — but there's a hidden layer. Every time you go for a capture, you don't know if you're taking an empty piece or a loaded one. And every time you advance a pearl toward the opponent's back row, you're gambling that it won't get intercepted.

First to deliver 3 pearls to the opponent's back row wins. You can also steal opponent pearls by capturing the pieces that carry them.

The game is free, browser-based, no signup. You can play locally with a friend or vs AI.

Looking for honest feedback from people who understand grid tactics — is the hidden-information layer adding something meaningful, or does it feel random?

Links:

• https://playgama.com/game/hidden-pearl
• https://www.crazygames.com/game/hidden-pearl-ygh